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Pork hocks

I went to a German Christmas market last year and had some pork hocks done on a rotisserie - they were life altering good. I tried to roast a pork hock and it came out more like roast ham than a 'shank' tasting meat. I am looking for help in how to roast a pork hock that will come out like the slow cooked rotisserie one I enjoyed. I've heard of cooking in beer, and sauerkraut - any method is appealing, but I need some ideas. I prefer low and slow cooking methods. thanks.

Part of this also might start with whether and how the hocks are cured -- were the ones you roasted cured like ham? If so, if you could source and slow roast a fresh hock, you'd probably get closer to a rotisserie flavor & texture.

Thanks Kristen, I am going to buy some hocks from a German organic pig farmer and quiz them for a recipe. If it turns out good I will post it. (looking for a pulled-pork texture, with pork hock flavor. The ones I used last time were raw un-cured. I just don't want to stand in the rain doing them on the bbq rotisserie.

What you most likely had was Schweinshaxe and that is not the same cut as a pork hock, nor is it cured. Butchers in the US don’t like to cut Schweinshaxe because it cuts into the ham and reduces the chances of selling the ham.

To cook Schweinshaxe, it is parboiled and then roasted on a spit. Let me know if you’re interested and I’ll try to find more detailed instructions.

OK. Give me a day or two--tomorrow is a holiday and everything is closed. I will go to the butcher and get them to show me exactly which joint the Schweinshaxe is, then I’ll get a recipe or two. Any chance that you speak German? If you don’t, no problem, because I can translate it for you.

I dropped by the butcher shop yesterday, but the woman I wanted to ask wasn't around. The woman I spoke to was new, so I want to check again to be sure. I showed her my Joy of Cooking pig illustration and she said the joint that I would call the knee is the Schweinshaxe. So that would be the lower joint in the ham.

As for a recipe, give me some time on that--I am on the road for the next two and a half weeks and need to look through recipes that will come close to what we eat here. German cooking is regional, so what I am talking about is cooking in the region around Munich extending south to the Austrian border. In this area, the joint is not smoked or corned--smoked Scweinshaxe seem to be popular in The Black Forest region (west) and pickled or corned is popular in Berlin--a self-respecting Bavarian would most likely deem such a thing unworthy of the beer that accompanies it. The Schweinshaxe here is simmered first in a flavorful broth, then roasted on a spit until the crust is crackling crisp. Fat be damned, the crust is never left on the plate--and it is the best part. You can certainly serve the Haxe with sauerkraut, but I like sweet-sour red cabbage with it. A Bavarian would have a potato dumpling with it as well, but I'd be happier with Spätzle. And beer, of course!